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Congratulations to Yale scholarship recipient Rachel Lawson of Gecko Press

By December 4, 2017No Comments

The hotly contested W.E. and M.L. Forde Scholarship to attend the Yale Book Publishing Course in Connecticut, USA reached a head last week as the selection panel met to decide who would be the lucky recipient.  With applications from top publishing executives across a wide range of publishing fields it was no straight forward task.

PANZ is delighted to announce that Rachel Lawson, Assistant Publisher at Gecko Press will be heading to the US to take up this opportunity in July next year.

Panel member and Yale Publishing Course alumnus Sam Elworthy said “It was a great and slightly daunting experience sorting through the applicants for the Yale Publishing Course because the best and brightest from our industry had come forward, keen to develop the international relationships and gain the strategic insight that one gets at Yale.

After considerable discussion, we settled on Rachel Lawson for this year’s scholarship. Rachel works for one of our fine independent publishers, Gecko Press; she is deeply involved in new strategic directions for the Press; and she has broad experience in publishing. We wish her well and encourage the other great applicants to put their names up again next year. What a great legacy for Margaret Forde to leave to the industry.”

Rachel who has been Assistant Publisher at Gecko Press for two and a half years and in the publishing industry for over 25 said “I feel very very lucky! I’m looking forward to everything I can learn about how to do things better, the international perspectives, new contacts and new ideas—and bringing it all back to Gecko Press. Seeing how businesses are working in other countries and the focus on new ways of thinking is so useful for a business like Gecko Press with our international model but tiny size! Thank you to the Forde family and PANZ for the fantastic opportunity.”

In 2018 the Yale Publishing course will run from 29 July – 3 August. The course is a week-long intensive classroom-based course for mid- to senior-level professionals in all areas of publishing. It tackles timely issues facing publishing professionals, giving a candid inside look at lessons learned by industry leaders as well as forward-looking approaches to publishing as a global enterprise.

Congratulations Rachel! We look forward to reporting back to members on Rachel’s experiences in due course.

For more details on the W.E and M.L Forde Publishing Scholarship click here.

If you are interested in an international career changing course don’t forget that the PANZ International Career Development Fund is available to members with funding of up to $3,000 available to attend an international course, internship or fellowship.
More details here.